The King is expected to pay tribute to Britain’s war veterans in his Christmas message, as he reflects on the commemorations marking 80 years since VE Day and VJ Day
In his Christmas message, King Charles III is set to honour Britain’s war veterans, reflecting on the bravery of those who served in the Second World War. As we close a year that marked the 80th anniversary of VE Day and VJ Day, it is expected that the monarch will once again laud the deeds of our greatest generation.
For only the second time in his reign, Charles has opted to record his Christmas speech outside Buckingham Palace, aiming for a more communal atmosphere, according to royal insiders. This year, the King chose the Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey as the backdrop for his message.
The Abbey has been the spiritual heart of the royal family for over a millennium and is the final resting place of 15 Kings and Queens, including Elizabeth I, Mary I, and Mary Queen of Scots.
Since 1066, nearly every English and subsequently British monarch has been crowned at Westminster Abbey, which remains a significant pilgrimage site – a central theme in the King’s message this year. Pilgrims flock to Westminster Abbey annually to commemorate the life and legacy of Edward the Confessor, whose Shrine is nestled within the Abbey.
Westminster Abbey also holds special significance as the venue where the Prince and Princess of Wales exchanged vows in 2011, and where the Princess has hosted her Together At Christmas carol service for the past five years, honouring hundreds of community champions for their work. This marks the second occasion during his reign that Charles has opted to film his Christmas message outside a royal residence, following last year’s broadcast from the Fitzrovia Chapel in London, reports the Mirror.
In his speech to the nation and the Commonwealth, due to air at 3pm on Christmas Day, the King is anticipated to focus once more on community unity as a central theme. Since ascending to the throne in September 2022, the monarch has structured his agenda around a set of core principles commonly known as the “four Cs” – Climate, Community, Culture, and Commonwealth.
After his cancer diagnosis in February 2024, a “fifth C” was incorporated into his working agenda, aligned with his official duties and patronages. The lifelong environmental campaigner is also expected to address the pressing need to safeguard the natural world, which has been a fundamental aspect of his decades of public service.
It is believed the King will reflect upon the poignant commemorations held throughout Britain, Europe and the Commonwealth earlier this year, marking eight decades since VE Day was declared on 8 May 1945 and VJ Day on 15 August. A four-day programme of special commemorations in May marked VE Day 80, with the King accompanied by his immediate family for a momentous occasion on the Buckingham Palace balcony, featuring a magnificent flypast to honour the anniversary of the Second World War’s conclusion in Europe.
The King paid tribute to the “service and sacrifice of the wartime generation” in his VE Day 80 address, echoing the words of his late grandfather, King George VI. In his own landmark speech to the nation, the monarch stated “while our greatest debt is owed to all those who paid the ultimate price, we should never forget how the war changed the lives of virtually everyone”.
The King and Queen Camilla were accompanied by the Prince and Princess of Wales, along with future king Prince George, 12, for a special veterans’ tea party with their families at Buckingham Palace on the May 8 anniversary.
As part of his ongoing commitment to fostering interfaith relations, the King is anticipated to reflect upon his landmark Vatican visit in October. Charles made history as the first British monarch in almost 500 years to pray alongside the Pope, marking a symbolic moment of unity between Anglicans and Roman Catholics worldwide.
The monarch is not anticipated to address his continuing health challenges, despite revealing earlier this month that his cancer treatment regime will be scaled back in the New Year – nearly two years following his diagnosis.
The King, 77, provided a major update regarding his cancer journey as part of Channel 4’s Stand Up to Cancer campaign on December 12, whilst emphasising the vital importance of cancer screening programmes.
In the message, filmed in the morning room at Clarence House, the King stated: “Early diagnosis quite simply saves lives. Now, I have heard this message repeatedly during my visits to cancer centres across the country. I know, too, what a difference it has made in my own case, enabling me to continue leading a full and active life, even while undergoing treatment.
“Today I am able to share with you the good news that thanks to early diagnosis, effective intervention and adherence to ‘doctors’ orders’, my own schedule of cancer treatment can be reduced in the New Year. This milestone is both a personal blessing and a testimony to the remarkable advances that have been made in cancer care in recent years; testimony that I hope may give encouragement to the fifty per cent of us who will be diagnosed with the illness at some point in our lives.”
Tomorrow, the King will open his Sandringham home in Norfolk to his nearest and dearest for the commencement of their Christmas festivities. Alongside the Queen, he will lead the royal family – including the Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis – at the St Mary Magdalene Church on Christmas Day, before hosting lunch.
However, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the King’s disgraced brother, and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, with whom he still resides in Windsor, will not be partaking in the royal family’s Christmas celebrations this year.
In November, the monarch stripped his brother of his remaining titles and honours, and Fergie of her Duchess of York title, due to their links with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. It is anticipated that Andrew and Sarah will spend one last Christmas at their shared Royal Lodge mansion on the Windsor estate before relocating to separate residences next year.
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan will also be noticeably absent from the royal family’s Christmas gathering. It is understood that they will be spending the festive period in California with their two children, Archie, six, and Lilibet, four.
